Nothing You Could Do
by CaliAngel89
Summary: Sequel to Sounds of Love. Alex, now 52, struggles to raise her now nearly adolescent kids, especially her daughters and seeing the shadows of her past in them. Although she's seen as the bad cop, she's the one they come to with the big stuff. Alex always fights for her family. She contends with big midlife changes and confronts how they affect her relationship with Piper., now 47.
1. Chapter 1

July 2029

"Whose cleats are these" Alex hollered up the stairs knowing full well who they belonged to, not because their house wasn't overtaken by six pairs but because only one of her children was forever leaving things around the house (again not that the other five didn't just one made it more of a habit), her daughter who was sometimes too much like her beautiful, careless princess of a mother in looks and demeanor, "Josephine Scarlett Ophelia Vause! Get your butt down here right now!"

"Whaaatt! Mooommm I'm tired! It was really hot at soccer camp today!"

"I know you aren't napping all afternoon and then planning on staying up all night, Josephine."

"But I'm so tired."

"This isn't a negotiation," Alex responded as she arrived at her daughter's door and entered without knocking.

"Now get down stairs and put those cleats and your soccer bag away in the mud room where they belong instead of the entryway. Are you trying to break my other hip?"

"No mom of course not."

"Well then go put your soccer things away and then come upstairs and put your suit on and get in the pool. It'll help you cool down and relax, I might even get mom Piper to make you her lavender lemonade. Charlie and your cousin Nickolas would live in the pool but you forget its there."

"Okay, you think we can grill tonight?"

"Shrimp or chicken?"

"Shrimp. Are Greyson and little Nicky still over?"

"They're sleeping over tonight."

"Not more boys in the house!"

"And Allie has a friend over tonight."

"I'm so glad we finally got our own rooms last month when school got out. I don't know how Mila and Dela are still sharing rooms happily! I wanted my own room a year ago. She always has some new friend she just has to spend every minute with. I don't get it. I hang with like ten girls and always in groups and its the same group I've hung with since I was five not so with her except her two best friends and the little boy everybody knows is gay she hangs around with its always one friend at a time."

"Don't compare your relationship as multiples to that of your sisters. How many times have I told you that?"

"A bunch."

"Back to my book. Clean, swim, enjoy your summer. It's short you'll have soccer camp then swim camp and then school."

On her way back down the stairs she heard a voice call lightly from the twins' room, "Mom are you and mom Piper okay?"

"Mila, baby sometimes adults fight."

"But you fight a lot not just sometimes. I don't want to have to go between houses and split everything. I want the mommies who used to take us on fun vacations and loved each other so much they got married twice. Remember that trip to Sesame Place when the triplets turned two, even Charlie enjoyed it. Or that Christmas trip to New York City three years ago, if only I knew that would be the last time we would be all happy together. It's not seeing you fight earlier its that you two can't stand to be in the same room. I've heard it, we all have, I've just never seen it until I decided to grab an ill timed snack. You do everything not to be in the same room and when you are you always end up in a fight. As much as I don't want to be split in two seeing you miserable splits me in a million pieces and sometimes I wish you would just get a divorce."

"Your mom and I aren't going to get a divorce, we don't want to. Our relationship has always been a bit volatile. I just want you to be a kid and enjoy that. I worried about adult things as a kid and it really messed me up for a long time and I don't want that for you."

"I can't be a kid, Cordelia depends on me and Allie to protect them from the bullies, to make sure they get everything they need. Then I see my moms at odds and its another conflict I need to solve, another thing I need to save."

"That's for me to deal with. Your sisters are strong and capable, let them fight their own battles and you worry about Mila."

"I don't know if I can, they're my little sisters and I can't watch people make fun of them, it hurts me."

"They need to fight their own battles sweetie and you just be there when they come to you. They are your best friends and I can't tell you what it does to my heart to see that relationship, the three of you have such a tight bond. I just can't believe I have any part in that. Now give me a hug. I'm heading down stairs and you should too."

"Okay mom. I love you."

"I love you too."

Seconds later Alex strolled into the kitchen where Piper was busy reorganizing the fridge and making sure they had everything and throwing away the expired food. Alex knew she was headed for a fight cause everything with Piper was a fight and change was a sure way to death but Alex's children were everything and she'd take the worst of her wife to keep them happy.

"So I was thinking we could grill tonight."

"That's not on the menu. It's basil chicken with penne and zucchini. You never stick to the schedule or meal plan. Why do I bother making it? Somebody's always changing something."

"Why do you make it then?"

"Because we have six kids, Alex! Six! There's eight of us and if we weren't twice as organized as a normal family with two kids everything would fall apart or into chaos."

"It's the summer. We can always have basil chicken, we can't always grill and we have three extra kids to feed tonight."

"It might be fun. No, no, no it wouldn't I'm not giving into you."

Alex walked over to her wife and put her arms around her waist and gave her the look she knew would always make her wife melt.

"C'mon Pipes. Josie wants it, do it for her. Let's grill up some shrimp and corn and zucchini. You love grilled shrimp. Remember that shrimp in Bali?"

"I do. God, you are evil and pure sex. I hate what you do to me. Okay we can make shrimp."

"While I have you firmly under my spell what do you think about therapy? I want this marriage to work. We've invested too many years and we have a pack of kids and our problems are affecting them. That's where I draw the line. When it hurts the kids, what Mila saw that can't happen, that's where I draw a firm line. My kids are my everything. I love you but there's nobody I love more than my kids, especially my girls. Mila is eleven going on thirty, she already struggles to be a kid."

"I'm not telling someone my issues. What can they do really?"

"Teach us how to communicate better. Offer support and guidance. Anyone who's been through what we have as indivduals and then a couple would need therapy. I want to save this marriage. You saw your parents' issues and it scarred you. Your mom didn't want to talk to anyone and she alienated her daughter and messed you up do you want that for your daughters?"

"No, that's the last thing I want for my daughters. I don't want to turn into my mother either. We can go to therapy. Now give me a kiss and go fire up your grill. I'll get you your beer."

"Now, that's a command I can live with," Alex turned and then turned back around, "What do you think about Hawaii?"

"In general?"

"We do have those four days between camps and school in two weeks I was thinking maybe we should go on another one of our famous Vause family vacations. And you love your islands. We don't have many summers left, Charlie will be thirteen in February. A teenager Pipes! We're gonna have a teenager and he is already brooding and eating us out of house and home and he's already as tall as me and the twins are close behind! Josie is already too cool for her family. We need to come together while we still can. While being a close-knit family is still cool. Cause we are already sending our first child off to high school and we'll turn around and in four short summers be packing to send that kid off to college. So Hawaii?"

"Did you have an island in mind?"

"Maui. The older three really wanted to go zip lining last time we were there but they were still too small, they should all be big enough now."

"Sounds good but I'm busy launching our fall line and new shoes for Christmas and those jackets came back all wrong from the vendor and I need them ready next month."

"I'll plan it and you take care of vendors and product and let me take care of it. Just think about what bikinis you want to bring and what fresh island fruit you want to eat first."

"Okay, Al. Hoe come you always win?"

"Oh it might have something to do with knowing you since you were 22 and you're 47 now so I've known you awhile and I know how you tick."

"Yeah and I know you. I don't like you lately and you stress me out worse than the business but I know you. I also know when a vacation might be the best thing for a family and you're right our kids need Hawaii right now. So plan it, baby."


	2. Sunrise and Hot Coffee

"Moooommmmm! Momma won't let me bring my makeup on the trip" Mila stomped into her parents' bathroom where her other mother was finishing fixing her hair.

"You know your momma and I don't want you girls wearing makeup until you're thirteen. We let you for special occasions and we let you wear concealer sometimes but you don't need it in Hawaii. All you need is bikinis and shorts. But if you do have a breakout," Piper checked to see if her wife was within earshot, "remember that you and your momma are the same shade, you both have that beautiful porcelain skin tone, yours is closest to hers."

"I'm just like Momma," she declared proudly.

"Too much sometimes. Go pack and help your sisters and think about where you wanna go for dinner tonight."

"I get to pick it on my own?"

"Think of it as a consolation prize for giving up bringing sparkly lipgloss to Hawaii."

Meanwhile, Alex was trying to supervise her younger three kids packing their suitcases each in their own rooms.

The triplets had always been their most independent, strong willed children which was why they had joined the world of the older children and packed for themselves. Just like when they were toddlers and wanted to dress themselves some outfits might not match and there might be last minute store runs cause somebody thought their outfit didn't need shoes but they'd be happy. And Piper and Alex had learned the importance of keeping the peace with six kids long ago.

"Mom, should I bring a pair of jeans?"

"I don't think you'll need them Als. It's gonna be pretty hot but bring a couple t shirts."

"Thanks mom."

"We really can't have our phones in Hawaii?"

"No."

"But I'll miss Scout, Jayde and Hayden."

"You'll be fine without talking to your friends for five days."

"But moooommm."

"Mom isn't letting me so much as have my Kindle so we're both whining at her idea but we need to unplug. It's been a long time since we've bonded as a family. We're falling apart and you kids are becoming teenagers so fast, it seems like yesterday the six of you were riding trikes across the tile downstairs and streaming down the hall laughing and hitting the walls."

"I hate when you get sentimental."

"Watch when you have kids and they grow too fast and become too independent and decide they don't need you anymore you'll get sentimental too."

Allie just rolled her eyes and mumbled "I doubt it" before turning her attention to her dresser.

What are you most excited for in Hawaii?"

"Scuba diving! I wanna see fish!"

"You are your Mom Piper's daughter. She always wanted to scuba dive. She even got that beauty fish on her neck. I never understood what she saw in it. Fish are fish no matter where they are and they are still the same fish as last time."

"They're cool!"

"Yeah they are pretty. I'm gonna go see if your little brother has packed more than underwear and a toothbrush."

"Don't count on it."

"I'm not."

The next morning the eight of them set off in their Suburban for Boston, the second the family had owned but that was on its last legs now and they knew before the year was up they would be buying their third. Which was made even more unfortunate by the fact that it had only been nine months since they had replaced their twelve passenger van. They knew they should be surprised any of their cars made it three months let alone nine and four years the way they shuttled their kids around. And it was only getting worse now that they were going from three to six tweens in the blink of an eye.

The kids were all watching some Disney Channel show that was popular with all the tweens and eating breakfast sandwiches and drinking vanilla bean Frappuccinos. Momentarily, there was no fighting or yells of mom just the sound of a DVD and the rustling of a Starbucks breakfast. They got through the airport with very few teenager temper tantrums. Mila as always didn't want to take off her shoes. The boys tried to convince their moms they were still hungry so they could get donuts. Getting from security to the gate made them long for the days when they both needed and their kids would allow helpers because corralling six tweens was not really much easier than doing it with six toddlers.

Eight hours later they arrived at their rental house.

"Wait I have to share a room with Allie!?"

"Yes Josephine. What did you think would happen? But maybe if you ask nicely Dela will switch with you, you know how close they are."

Everybody loved Dela, she had always been that kind of kid who kids and adults just loved. She was understandably close to her identical twin but even that relationship was eclipsed by the relationship with Allie. The two both loved animals and the water and were both such caring, gentle, quiet souls where the other kids were all crazy, boisterous noisy creatures.

"Mom! I have to share a room with Wilder! He's a baby! A baby moooooommmm! This is so unfair!"

"I am not a baby! I'm eight!"

"Yes, there's only four bedrooms in this house with no space to create a fifth. Besides and Charles and Josephine especially listen up-this trip is about coming together as a family! If Mom Piper had gotten her way all four girls would be sharing a room so be grateful we aren't all sleeping in one room or something crazy. We have a beautiful house steps from the sand and a pool with a hot tub. Just enjoy paradise and try to enjoy sharing space here and being together as a family. And I want all of you to respect each other's things and space within your rooms."

The grunts and eye rolling inspired by Alex's impassioned speech were eventually followed by a chorus of mumbled yes momses. The first disaster since arriving in Hawaii had been officially diverted. They decided to unpack and then head to the Hilton for a seafood dinner, which was amazing. The next morning Alex woke up early as always.

"Pipes, hey babe. Wake up I wanna watch the sunrise with you."

"And I want to sleep! Traveling takes it out of me and we have so much to cram into three days. The kids want to each do a million things which equals roughly six million things and unfortunately none of them are sleep! Once the girls all decided to have a slumber party in the living room nobody got any quiet! You know they'll be up in two hours ready to hit the beach cause the one thing all six kids can agree on is the beach."

"That's the only thing we can agree on lately too."

"What about our love for our amazing children and passion for eco-friendly baby products?"

"Okay that too but I was thinking more from our twenties to now with me in my fifties and you nearly fifty the one thing we've both always loved. And the only thing we love more than the beach is sitting on the balcony watching the sun rise over the beach. We don't even have to kiss or hold hands."

"Okay, but I'm holding your hand, you know cause it's part of the ritual and all."

"Well if you insist then who am I to try and stop you?"

Five minutes later the two were sitting on the balcony of their master suite wordlessly drinking hot coffee and watching the sun come up over the ocean hand in hand. It was sweet but as beautiful as it was there was still something forced, something so tense bubbling underneath the surface. This was still the two of them existing within something bigger than them, that had its own life like a parasite that fed off their hearts. Still, they sat out there until they heard giggling from the living room downstairs and cartoons click on.

"Girls are up."

"Which means the boys have probably been playing in their room for an hour cause they know how not to wake the house the girls-"

"Are girls and will never learn that c'mon you know this Alex."

"Doesn't mean I like it. Why couldn't we have had four boys and two girls? That would have been manageable."

"Believe me the only thing I've never wished for is more girls, I've wished for everything up to all boys. Girls are so hard."

"But they can be so sweet too."

"Uhm, two of the four you mean."

"No they all have their moments on both sides."

"Yeah just some moments last longer. Now let's get some breakfast together cause every minute spent here is a minute not spent on the beach and you don't get to hide behind a book all day. I didn't take your digital books only for you and Dela to hide behind printed books. Enjoy the beach."

"But this is how we enjoy the beach."

"I'm saying it to you now and I'm sure I'll say it to her a thousand times, play. Besides, she does whatever she sees you doing. She's always mimicked you and probably always will to some degree."

"Okay. What time is our snorkeling trip?"

"Two. And the luau is at six so we have a packed day after lunch, all the more reason to get started on the free portion of our day early."

"Guess its good somebody woke you up before the crack of dawn then."

"Very funny, Alex!"

The first full day in Hawaii was uneventful, they saw turtles which even unenthusiastic Charlie through was pretty cool. Wilder saw a black and white striped fish that he thought was pretty cool, he was also the child who was most interested in the dancing at the luau. He thought the men who danced with flaming torches and asked if he could take Hawaiian dance lessons when they got home, to which Alex told him she doubted there was a school for that in rural New Hampshire but he did get to get up on stage at the end with a few kids from the audience and learn a dance which all his siblings cheered wildly for. They had already begun to come together and they still had two more full days plus a morning in paradise.

On their second day, they woke up just as early as they had on their first except this time they put on shorts and hiking boots and went to a state park to hike, zip line and BBQ. That night they did a spaghetti dinner and hung out by the pool laughing as a family. The kids with their cans of soda and the adults with theirs of beer.

The next day they dropped the kids off to do a treasure hunt while the two of them spent the day at the spa getting massages and facials. Before they left they snuck in a couple hours of surfing before they headed to the airport to fly back to Boston, where they would spend the night before driving home the next morning. All in all, they got what they came to Maui for, they fell back in love with each other and gained back some of the cohesiveness that had been so worn down over the past few years.

"Hey you think we can build on this?"

"I think we can of course we can but will we, Al?"

"If I call that therapist we got recommended by Lisa and Heather we might."

"Promise you will?"

Alex, who was driving, looked at her kids through the rearview mirror and then the late morning sun lighting her wife's face, "For them and the way the sun looks on your face I will."

"Yeah and because I kinda liked last night. I kinda liked it a lot."

After the kids were finally quiet the night before the two of them snuck down to the hot tub and skinny dipped in each other's arms as they kissed and looked up at the stars.

"Me too. Can we do that tonight?"

"You think it can hold up to Maui?"

"I don't think anything can hold up to anything in Maui but I did like being in your arms. I forgot how it felt when you held me."

"I forgot how it felt to hold you. You don't exactly let me very often. And then the rest of time you are pissing me off and I don't wanna hold you."

"Yeah and I don't wanna be held by you most of the time. But right now I can say I'm falling for you again."

"How do we always do that?"

"If I knew I'd be a wealthy writer of romance self help books. I'm just glad we do."

"Me too."

The family was largely quiet the rest of the drive, as if all eight of them were scared that any misstep, any wrong word might puncture the bubble created by their trip to Maui.


End file.
